Mine-anchor device



Dec. 22, 1925 1,566,834

S. C. CROSS Il I .1M mimlullum m l la' i WM mi'.

Deco 22 1925- S. C. CROSS MINE ANCHOR DEVICE 2 Sheets-She'et 2 Filed June 20, v1923 nuentoz Patented Dec. Z2, 1925.'

SAMUEL CLARK CROSS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

l( M '.fNE-ANCHOR DEVICE.

Application filed June 20, 1923. Serial No. 646,649.

To all whom t may concern.: mine sweeping cable has just entered the Be it known that I, SAMUEL CLARK Cnoss, by-pass: Y a citiaen of the United States, residing at Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation illustri-Lt lVashington.` in the. District of Columbia, ing the position of the parts just as the mine have invented certain new and useful Imsweeping cable is leaving'the lay-pass;

provenients in Mine-Anchor Devices, of Fig. l is a longitudinal view in detail of which the following is a specilication. the operating mechanism;

My invention relates to devices for pre- F 5 is a cross sectional view taken on venting sweeping of mines. the line 5 5 of Fig. 4, looking in the direc- 50 AnvobjectV of my invention is to pi'f'wide tion ofthe arrows;

a device which will allow a inine sweeping Fig. 6 a cross sectional view taken on cable to pass between the mine and its nioorthe line (3 6 of Fig. 4, lookingl in the direcing without sweeping the mine. tion of the arrows;

Another object of my invention is to pro- Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on the 65 vide lan anti-sweeping device which is so line 7 7 of Fig. et, looking in the direction constructed that the sweeping cable will not of the arrows;

become entangled with any oint or connec- Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on the tion. line 8 8 of Fig. 11, looking in the direction Still another object of my invention is to of the arrows.' 70

provide an anti-sweeping device for mines Referring to the drawings for a detailed which will quickly and surely be rotated by description, I have shown in Figs. 1, 2 and the sweeping'cable into operative position. 3, a mine 1, having a connecting staple 2 A still further object of my invention is fastened to its surface. To the connecting to provide a deviceiwhich may be easily and Staple 2 is connected a link 3, which in turn 75 25 cheaply constructed, and will always be is connected to a link 4. The lower end of operative. V the link 4L pivotally holds the antimine lVith these and other objects in view, sweeping device, which will later be de- 'which may be incident to my improvements, scribed. Below the antimine sweeping` de` the invention consists in the parts and com- VCC iS il IUOOIng Cable 5, Whose lower end 80 3Q binations to be hereinafter set forth and iS fastened to an anchor block 6.

claimed, with the understanding that the The antimine sweeping device comprises several necessary elements comprising my a support member 7 at whose upper corner invention', may be varied in construction, is formed a hole 8 in which the link 4 is proportions and arrangement, without depvoted. The support member 7 is formed 85 parting from the spirit and scope of the with a guide track 9 therein, formed on appended claims. either side of the support member 7. The In Order t0 make my invention more guide tracks 9 are constructed by forming clearly understood, I have shown in the the Support member 7 with upstanding accompanying drawings means for carrying ridges 11. The support member 7 has an 90 the same into practical effect, without limitupstanding core piece 12 on either side.

ing the improvements in their useful appli- The guide tracks 9 are formed between the cations to the particular constructions, which upstanding core'pieces 12 and the ridges 11.

for the purpose of explanation, Yhave been The support member 7 is roughly of trimade the st ibject ofillustration. angular shape and has a catch lip" 13 at one 95 In' the drawiY gs: edge. The under side of Lthe support meni- Figure `1 isa view in side elevation of my bei" 7 has a slightly downwardly Vslanted device just at the moment that the mine riding surface 14. the lower end ofthe sweeping -cable is in' position to operate the riding surface 111 the support member 7 is Sallie; -A formed with@ bypass 15. -tQ nermtthe mine 100 50 Fig. 2 is a kview in side elevation showing sweep cab-le to by-passto the position, .as

the @einen tgeil by the 'rartsfnhn "the Show-1,1 indotte@ lines Fis @fue 'inte the a guiding lip 16 which projects downwardly a considerable distance. below the riding sun face 14.

A portion of the support member 7, which lies within the guide track 9, is cut away at 17, and a latch 18 is adapted to project into this cut-away portion of the guide track.r

The latch 18 is pivoted to the support member 7 at 19. The lower side of the latch 18 rests for a portion of its length against a shoulder 21 formed on the support member 7, and a compression spring 22 is mounted in the cut-away portion 17 with its upper end bearing against the support member 7 and its lower end against the latch 18, normally holding the latch 18 in the position shown in Fig. 4.

A link member 23 is formed with two parallel arms 24, which have bowed surfaces 25 for the purpose of making sure that the apparatus will turn in the operative position when these bowed surfaces contact with the mine sweeping cable. The bowed surfaces operate to rotate the device when the cable touches these surfaces. Below the link 23, and preferably integrally formed therewith, is a bowed connection 26 which is distorted to present a bowed surface to any mine sweeping cable, thereby causing the device to rotate into operative position. The bowed surfaces 25 and the bowed surface 26 co-operate together to make certain that the device shall always move into operative position.

The parallel arms 24 of the link member 23 have mounted near their upper ex tremities two shafts 27, which are adapted to be held to the arms 24 by means of bolts or pins which pass through apertures 28 in the shafts 27. The shafts 27 are provided on their inner extremities with heads 29 and rollers 31. The rollers 31 are mounted on the shafts 27 and held against axial displacement between the heads 29 and the support arms 24. The rollers 31 travel in the guide tracks 9, as is illustrated in Fig. 4. The lower extremity of the connection 26 is formed with a swivel shaft 32 thereon, which tits through a hole 33 formed in a link 34. A. head 35, which may be formed by riveting, holds the swivel shaft 32 in the hole 33 of the link 34. rIhe link 34 is connected to another link 36, which is in turn suitably connected to the mooring cable 5. The link 36 has fitted therearound a guard 37, which is preferablyv formed of heavy sheet metal and extends upwardly to a point adjacent to the lower end of the link 34. This guard 37 prevents the mine sweeping cable from becoming entangled with the parts just described.

The swivel joint between the connection 26 and the link 34 permits the anti-sweeping device to be easily rotated into operative position at all times.

In operation, a mine sweeping cable 38 will pass along until it comes in contact with the connection between the mine and its mooring. The cable 38 will slip along the connection and when it strikes the bowed surface 26, the bowed surface 26 will cause the anti-sweeping deviceto be rotated into operative position, provided it is not already in that position. (See Fig. l). The mine sweeping cable 38 will then slide up past the catch lip 13. The cable in passing along drawn between the mine sweeping boats, will slide down the surface 14 of the support member 7, and push before it the link member 23. The rollers 31 of the link member 23 will pass along the guide tracks 9, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and the mine sweeping cable 38 will en gage with the guiding lip 16, and will pass up into the bypass 15, as indicated in Fig. 2. The rollers 31 then pass on down below the cable 38, but will not pass out through the by-pass 15, because they are too `large.

to pass through anaperture of this size.

The mine sweeping cable 38 will pull the device over into the position shown in Fig. 3, in which position the rollers 31 have passed back into the position illustrated] in Fig. 4, where they are prevented by the latch 18 from traveling backward in the direction from which they have come. The latch 18 is adjusted to be pressed by the spring 22 to a sufficient degree to operate the latch, but the spring is not strong enough to prevent the rollers 31 from readily raising the latch 18 in the cycle of operation just described. In the position shown in Fig. 3, the mine sweeping cable 38 is leaving the by-pass 15, and the mine and accompanying mechanism will then take up its normal position, as indicated in Figure 1.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of. my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction herein set forth, by way of illustration, as is apparent that inany changes and variations may be made therein, by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l.. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mine, a mine sweep slip device in such connection operative in certain positions only, and having a by-pass therein, a swivel joint 1n such connection comprising links, one of which has a swivel socket, and the other of which has a guard, and means for directing ak mine sweep through said by-pass for preventing the sweeping of the mine. v

Q. In a mine mooring device, thel combina'- tion with a' mine, of a mooring therefor, a' connection between the mooring and the mine, means operative in' certainh positions only comprised in such connection, permitting a mine sweep to pass between the mine and the mooring, and a swivel joint in such connection comprising links, one of which has a swivel socket and the other of which has a guard for preventing the mine sweep from catching in the links.

8. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor` a connection between the mooring and the mine, a mine sweep slip device in such con nection operative in certain positions only. and a plurality of elements mounted one above the other comprised in the connection both tending to rotate the slip device into operative position.

4. In a mine mooring d-evice, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mineA a mine sweep slip device in such connection operative in certain positions only, and a plurality of bowed surfaced elements in the connection for rotating the slip device into operative position.

5. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mine, a mine sweep slip device in such connection operative in certain positions only, and two bowed surfaced elements, one mounted adjacent to and above the other for rotating the slip device into operative position.

G. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mine, a support member in said connection having a by-pass, a guide track in said support member, a link member operated by a mine sweep and adapted to move in said guide track, and a bow surface on said link member adapted to co-operate with the mine sweep to move the mechanism into operative position.

7. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor. a connection between the mooring and the mine, a support member in said connection pivotally connected to the mine and having a by-pass. a guide track in said support member, a guiding lip on the support member for directing a mine sweep into the by-pass, a link member. outstanding means on the link member adapted to move in said guide track,'and means for permitting a complete cycle of movement of the link member 1n one v*direction only.

' 8. In a mine mooring device. the combination with a` mme, of a mooring therefor, a

connection between the mooring and the mine, a support member in said connection pivotally connected to the mine and having a by-pass, a guide track in said support member, a guiding.)` lip on the support member for directinga' mine sweep into the bypass, a link member, outstanding means on the link member adapted to move in said guide track, and a latch co-operating with said means for permitting a complete cycle of movement of the link member in one direction only.

9. In a mine mooring device, the combination with al mine, of a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mine, a support member in said connection pivotally connected to the mine and having a by-pass, a guide track in said support member, a guiding lip on the support member for directing a mine sweep into the by-pass. a catch lip on the support member, a link member, outstanding means on the link member adapted to mov-e in said guide track, and a latch co-operating with said last named means for permitting a complete cycle of movement of the link member in one direction only.

l0. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mine, a support member in said connection pivotally connected to the mine and having a by-pass, a guide track in said support member, a guiding lip on the support member for directing a mine sweep into the bypass, a catch lip on the support member, a link member, a bow surface on the link member for rotating the device into operative position, outstanding means on the link member adapted to move in said guide track, and a latch co-operating with the last named means for permitting a complete cycle of movement of the link member in one direction only.

ll. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mine, a support member in said connection pivotally connected to the mine and having a by-pass. a guide track in said support member, a guiding lip on tho support member for directing the mine sweep into the bypass, a catch lip on thc support member, a link member, rollers on the link member traveling in the guide track, a latch cooperating with the rollers for permitting a complete cycle of movement of the link member in one direction only, and a plurality of bowed surfaced elements in the connection for bringing the device into operative position.

l2. In a mine mooring device, the combination with a mine, of a mooring therefor, a connection between the mooring and the mine, a 'support member in said connection having a bypass, al guide track in said support. member,- a link member operated by a mme sweep and adapted to move in said guide track, and means adapted to (zo-operate with the mine sweep to move the mechanism into operative position.

ln testimony whereof I aix my signature.

SAMUEL CLARK CROSS. 

